Beyond Jamboard: Introducing the New Equatio Whiteboard
Explore the newest addition to Equatio - the Whiteboard. Designed to allow you to jot down ideas, visualize concepts, and solve equations together – all within Equatio.
We've been busy in the background adding even more great functionality to the Whiteboard.
The entire Equatio team and I are thrilled to announce the latest enhancement to our Chrome Extension – the Whiteboard! I’m excited to share this powerful interactive whiteboard tool designed to streamline workflows and boost engagement across Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Forms, and more.
What is the Whiteboard?
The Whiteboard is an interactive scratchpad that allows you to jot down ideas, draw, and insert shapes, directly within your documents. Whether you're a student solving complex equations, a teacher preparing lesson plans, or a school based administrator working on data analysis, this feature is designed for you.
With the Whiteboard you can:
- Jot down ideas, visualize concepts, and solve equations together – all within Equatio. No more switching between apps, losing track of work, or wasting valuable class time.
- Work side-by-side with students in real-time. Explain concepts visually, annotate on equations, and guide them through complex problems together.
- Create a dynamic learning environment where students can brainstorm freely, explore solutions visually, and explain their thought process using familiar math language and symbols.
Key features of the Whiteboard
- Drawing tool: You can freely draw and annotate using the intuitive drawing tool. Perfect for sketching graphs, solving problems step-by-step, or adding your own notes.
- Insert shapes: Easily insert a variety of shapes such as circles, rectangles, diamonds, and lines. Shapes are essential for creating diagrams, geometric figures, and other visual aids. We’re also bringing the shapes that you know and love from mathspace into the whiteboard tool.
- Text integration: Add text directly onto the whiteboard. Label your diagrams, write out equations, or include explanatory notes without leaving the whiteboard or the Chrome extension.
- Seamless integration: Once you're done with your annotations, you can effortlessly insert the whiteboard content into Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and more with a single click. This seamless integration ensures that your work remains consistent and accessible across all your documents.
How to use the Whiteboard
Why you'll love the Whiteboard
- The Whiteboard feature helps to build students’ communication, critical thinking and creativity.
- In the classroom, you can engage students in problem solving exercises.
- Use the whiteboarding tool to plan and design your lessons, and easily share with students in your class to edit and solve.
- With the Whiteboarding tool you’ll no longer need to buy expensive Expo markers and whiteboards, saving you money to put into more digital resources.
Students in your classrooms will love the Whiteboard because it helps to:
Master math with ease: Students can explore new math concepts and solve problems in a collaborative environment.
Boost understanding: Clear and organized visual aids help with understanding and communication of mathematical concepts.
Show what you know: Whiteboarding allows students to demonstrate their understanding of math concepts in a way that suits their learning preferences best.
New for October 2024
Since we launched the Whiteboard feature, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to make sure it was a useful tool. We’ve now added new features to the Whiteboard, including:
Equation editor: There’s a new button near ‘Insert Math’ that will allow you to make math in the editor and send it directly to your Whiteboard.
Edit mistakes: Teachers and Students can easily make mistakes while writing math. Now, you can easily edit your math inside the Whiteboard tool in one of two ways. You can right click on the Equatio math, and select ‘Edit in Equatio’ with a left click. Or, double click on the math previously inserted into the whiteboard and it will return you to the Equation Editor to make your adjustments.
Hear math read aloud inside the Whiteboard: Math made from the equation editor or shapes being selected from the ‘Shapes’ button will now contain the spoken math inside the Alt Text field, this means that students will be able to hear the math read aloud. Simply, right click on an object, whether it be shapes, or math, and navigate down on the dropdown to the option that says Alt Text.
Add text-to-speech: You can now use Text to Speech for the following objects: Library shapes, Custom shapes, Math from the equation editor, Text, and Groups of shapes.
Get started today
The Whiteboard will be a game-changer for anyone working with digital math. And with Google announcing that they will be retiring Jamboard, the Whiteboard will be an essential piece of your digital teaching kit. To start using this feature, simply launch Equatio and your Google Chrome Extension will automatically update to the latest version and look for the new ‘Whiteboard’ button on your toolbar.
We can’t wait to see how you’ll use the Whiteboard to enhance your math work.
Haven't had the chance to try Equatio yet?
Why not give it a try now? Our 30 day free trial gives you access to all of Equatio's premium features, including the Whiteboard.